10 de mai de 2011

've always been more of an “Alice in Wonderland” girl, never was able to see anything good in the Wizard of Oz. I can remember hating the later and loving the former as a child. I also remember watching Alice with my best friend in childhood and thinking how cool it was for Alice that she could fall into a dream world with such interesting characters. I read the story is filled with allusions to Carroll’s friends and if that’s true, he must never have been bored. The story easily satisfies two things that I love and have always been drawn to, dreamers and eccentrics. Basically, people like myself I guess. I have never really considered myself eccentric although some version of that word has been used to describe me at one time or another. I think it’s just because I move in the direction that feels right to me, even if it doesn’t always make sense to others. At any rate, I will always come down on the side of dreamers, the unique souls who add to the worlds color, not to blend in but rather to stand out.

The following is a stanza from Lewis Carroll’s poem, “All in the Golden Afternoon” – where he tells of the afternoon boat ride when he improvised the tale which became “Alice” for the 3 daughters of Henry George Liddell.

Thus grew the tale of WonderlandThus slowly, one by oneIts quaint events were hammered out ~And now the tale is doneAnd home we steer, a merry crew,Beneath the setting sun

Alice! A childish story takeAnd with a gentle handLay it where childhood dreams are twined~In memory’s mystic bandLike pilgrim’s wither’d wreath of flowersPlucked in far-off land

1 de set de 2010

VER THE LAST few days this Witch Bottle will have been crossing some of your house thresholds. So I thought it time to introduce her, and tell you why her crossing your threshold might have been quite a horrifying thought had you been living centuries ago. She is painted with oils on burr walnut wood and the idea is based on an old English folk magic, evidence of which has come to light in the rebuilding and renovating of old buildings in recent years. The practice of making witch bottles dates back at least to the 15th century and is a form of apotropaic charm (i.e. one that wards off evil).

If someone believed that they were the victim of a witch's spell, they would take an old pot-bellied bottle, often made of blue or green glass, or a stoneware container known as a Bellarmine (named after the rather dreadful bearded face that decorated the side of these bottles, which reminded folk of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine who was a persecutor of protestants and labeled a demon), and fill it with various curious ingredients...

First the worried spell victim would drop in some bent iron nails or pins, then some of their own hair, and lastly their urine. Sometimes other items like thorns or pieces of wood, nail clippings, stones, bones, ash, menstrual blood, oil or coins were added to this. Then the bottle would be corked and buried in a significant place. Many witch bottles have been discovered underneath the hearth stone, hidden in walls or at the threshold of the house.

The idea behind this was that if a witch was sending her spirit to harm you, she would most likely try to enter your home through a doorway, chimney, or other entranceway. If there was a concoction made from your own bodily fluids in her way, she would turn her attentions on that, presuming it was you and get herself caught on the bent iron nails. It is thought that in the case of bellarmines, the frightening face on the side of the bottle would further ward off evil.So if there appeared in the nearby vicinity someone with a dreadful sudden affliction or who experienced terrible pain whilst urinating, then it was likely to be the witch!

Archaeologists have found only four bottles still completely intact with evidence of urine and hair and all sorts of other delights within. In fact, these witch bottles were often thought to explode on the death of the witch, so perhaps these are cases where the charm did not work. If you are interested in learning more about strange popular superstitions, dried cats, old shoes and other Things Hidden In Walls, there are some excellent articles here at Apotropaios, where you are invited to send details of any odd things found hidden in your walls and under doorsills.

atherine Grimaldi has been working with Year 1 children on a shadow-puppet project. The children created their own shadow-puppets and plays and wrote about the characters they made. They also watched a Lotte Reiniger shadow-puppet film. Many of Lotte Reiniger's films are viewable on Youtube here